Word stores templates in different places depending on your computer and whether you mean the global Normal.dotm template or templates you created yourself. On Windows, personal templates are commonly kept in %appdata%MicrosoftTemplates; on current Word for Mac, the default user-templates folder is ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates. Word settings can point to a different folder.
Windows: find Normal.dotm or your personal templates
These are two related but distinct template locations. Normal.dotm is Word’s global default template, while templates you create can appear in Word’s Personal templates collection.
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| What you’re looking for | Default or documented location | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
Normal.dotm, Word’s global template |
C:Users<user>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftTemplates. Microsoft’s Normal.dotm instructions identify this folder. |
In Word, choose File > Open and navigate to the folder. The AppData folder may be hidden in File Explorer. |
| Personal templates | %appdata%MicrosoftTemplates. Microsoft’s custom-templates instructions use this folder for the personal-template location. |
Press Windows key + R, enter %appdata%MicrosoftTemplates, and press Enter. You can set this folder in Word under File > Options > Save > Default personal templates location. |
Make personal templates appear under Personal
- Open the folder by pressing Windows key + R, entering
%appdata%MicrosoftTemplates, and pressing Enter. - In Word, open File > Options > Save.
- Enter that folder as the Default personal templates location, then save a template there. Microsoft says to set the location in each Microsoft 365 program where you want the templates to appear.
When saving a template in the documented Windows desktop workflow, use .dotx for a standard template or .dotm if it contains macros. The default Custom Office Templates folder is under Documents; for a particular personal-template folder, use the location configured in Word. See Microsoft’s instructions for saving a Word document as a template.
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Word loads Normal.dotm when it starts. It stores default styles and customizations that affect the basic appearance of new documents. If the file is renamed, damaged, or moved, Word creates a fresh one the next time it starts; customizations in the moved file are not transferred to the replacement. Microsoft explains the Normal.dotm behavior here.
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Mac: find the current user-templates folder
For current Word for Mac, the documented default is ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates. The tilde (~) represents your home folder. To open the folder in Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder, enter the path, and press Return.
Change where Word looks for user templates
- In Word, open the Word menu and choose Preferences. The labels can vary by version.
- Choose File Locations, select User templates, then choose Modify.
- Choose or enter the folder Word should use.
To open the hidden user Library directly, use Finder’s Go > Go to Folder and enter ~/Library. You can also press Command + Shift + G in a folder dialog when available. See Microsoft’s template creation instructions.
Mac paths by Office generation
| Word version | Documented user-templates folder |
|---|---|
| Current Word for Mac | ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates (Microsoft) |
| Word for Mac 2016 | ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates (Microsoft) |
| Word for Mac 2011 | ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Templates (Microsoft) |
To create a template on Mac, choose File > Save as Template. Word lets you choose a location; standard templates use .dotx, while macro-enabled templates use .dotm.
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Quick Recap
If Word’s template folder looks empty or different
- Check the configured location. Word can use a folder other than the default: on Windows, review File > Options > Save > Default personal templates location; on Mac, review Word > Preferences > File Locations > User templates.
- Distinguish a template from Normal.dotm. A file in the Normal.dotm folder is not automatically the same as a personal template shown under Personal.
- Check the Office generation. The Mac 2011 path is a legacy location, not the current default.
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